Kodiak, Alaska

The masks in the Alphonse Pinart collection

The catalogue of the first exhibition to be held in the Quai Branly Museum.

The collection of alutiiq masks that Alphonse Pinet brought back in 1871 from his first voyage in Alsaka provides a revealing insight into a key period in the history of a region that is still marked by Russian colonisation. Alphonse Pinart was an intrepid and learned young scientist aged 19, who managed to gather an exceptional collection during this perilous expedition.

The catalogue of the exhibition presents a hundred of these artworks, which constitute irreplaceable ethnographic evidence of a forgotten culture. Contributions by specialists from round the world bring us the latest research into a time of upheaval in the history of the 5000 year-old civilisation and into the voyages undertaken by Alphonse Pinart, which are still shrouded n mystery.